


Fine. Okay. I do.

by chaos101



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ash Lynx Lives, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon Fix-It, aro author trying to write marriage stuff, but forgot to write them kissing, like very light, they ... i just realized they didn't kiss again, why am i like this? oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29105604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos101/pseuds/chaos101
Summary: Everyone thinks that Ash will be the one to propose.Eiji knows it; he’s even heard rumors about the others making bets on how long it will take. But when over a year has passed since the Banana Fish escapades ended, and Ash hasn’t even hinted at rings? Eiji knows he’ll have to take matters into his own hands.Eiji decides that it's time.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 39
Kudos: 155





	Fine. Okay. I do.

Everyone thinks that Ash will be the one to propose.

Eiji knows it; he’s even heard rumors about the others making bets on how long it will take. But when over a year has passed since the Banana Fish escapades ended, and Ash hasn’t even hinted at rings? Eiji knows he’ll have to take matters into his own hands.

He spends a long time planning it out, though he decides against bringing it up to any of their friends. After all, there’s a _chance_ that Ash will say no, and he doesn’t want to have that conversation with anyone after the fact. This is just for them, at least until they choose to tell anyone else.

He decides against a public proposal, partly for the same reasons, and also because he doesn’t like the idea of the pressure that would put on Ash. He decides against engagement photos—at least, not unless they want to recreate the moment later. Eiji will _never_ take Ash’s photo without his permission. He decides against rings with jewels—too similar to the lavish jewelry Ash has been forced to wear in the past.

Of course, that leaves the question of what Eiji _can_ decide on.

He knows that it’ll have to be in their own home. That’s where Ash will be most comfortable. No one else can be there, either—just a moment between the two of them. As little pressure as possible. Eiji always wants Ash to feel comfortable saying _no_ to him.

Instead of typical engagement photos, they can take a selfie with the rings afterward. A casual phone selfie, maybe. Nothing formal. Nothing set up, nothing like a studio or professional recording.

As for the ring ... maybe something simple. Just a small, solid band, closer to a modest wedding band. Eiji debates on the type of metal for a while. White gold has a certain elegance to it that could fit Ash well, but Ash might balk and feel guilty at the idea of Eiji spending so much money on him. Yellow gold could be matched to Ash’s hair, but that might remind him of harder times, of being _forced_ to wear jewelry that matches his features.

In the end, he decides on tungsten. No jewels, just a simple engraved geometric design. Cheaper, so hopefully Ash won’t feel guilty or obligated to say yes. Nothing to remind him of his own features—in fact, maybe the darker color will remind him of Eiji instead. There’s always been a certain poetic irony in that, in how dark colors used to be something that Ash feared until he met Eiji.

Eiji doesn’t want to plan out a fancy dinner or expensive date night. He wants this to be as far away from anything that could trigger Ash as possible.

So he decides to propose over breakfast.

Well, brunch, really, based on when Ash wakes up on Saturdays.

He makes shrimp and avocado salad. An old favorite of Ash’s. Special, but not unusual for Eiji to make for him. And from the moment Ash emerges from the bedroom, hair adorably mussed, wearing one of Eiji’s NoriNori shirts, still groggy from sleep ...

Eiji’s heart starts to pound.

He loves this man so, _so_ much.

He’s questioned a lot of his decisions in his life, but this isn’t one of them.

“Shrimp and avocado salad?” Ash asks, a smile breaking across his face. Eiji’s heart swells. “It’s been a while. What’s the occasion?”

“I just love you,” Eiji offers, hoping that he doesn’t sound as nervous as he feels.

Ash raises an eyebrow, but sits down to eat anyway. Eiji sits across from him, resting his elbow on the kitchen table and his head in his hand, watching Ash.

“Did you already eat?” Ash asks. He sounds genuinely concerned.

Eiji shakes his head. “I’ll eat later. Not quite hungry yet.” He doesn’t think his stomach can handle food right now. How do people manage do this over expensive dinners without getting sick?

It occurs to Eiji, suddenly, that he didn’t actually plan out _how_ to ask Ash to marry him.

So he starts rambling.

“Ash,” he starts, then hesitates. “You know I love you, right?”

Ash blinks, then smiles at him. “Of course, my Eiji. I love you too.”

Eiji blushes. _My Eiji,_ he said. It’s rare for Ash to use pet names, even something as simple as that.

“I love you more than you could ever know,” Ash continues.

And that’s just not fair! Eiji’s supposed to be the one giving the sappy speech. And there’s _no way_ that Ash loves Eiji more than Eiji could ever know, because he knows that there’s no love in the world stronger than what he feels for Ash.

“I love everything about you, Ash,” Eiji whispers. He clears his throat and tries to bring his voice up to a reasonable volume. “And I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve known that for a long time.”

Eiji sees Ash’s chewing slow.

“I know that no one in this world is perfect,” Eiji continues. “But I also know that you _are_ perfect for me. I can’t imagine myself with anyone else. I love you with all my heart and soul, and I always will.” He realizes suddenly that he’s supposed to be down on one knee for this part, and quickly jumps out of his chair. He nearly stumbles as he kneels in front of Ash, pulling the ring box out of his pocket. Was he supposed to just have it in his pocket? Is that the wrong way to do this? He shakes his head a little, trying to get back on track.

Ash’s eyes widen. Eiji gulps.

“I know that my love for you will only grow for the rest of our lives, like it has since he moment we met.” He pops the box open, revealing the simple black band. “Aslan Jade ‘Ash Lynx’ Callenreese,” he says, with the hint of a smile, “will you marry me?”

Ash swallows his bite of shrimp and avocado salad and starts coughing.

“Ah, are you okay?” Eiji asks, about to jump to his feet. But Ash holds a hand out to keep Eiji where he is, and calms after only a few moments, clearing his throat a few times.

Ash takes a breath. “What the fuck?” is the first thing he says.

Eiji pales. “Sorry, I—I mean, you can say no, Ash!”

“It’s not that!” Ash says quickly. “Why would you ... why would you want to marry me?”

Eiji blinks. “Did I not just say?”

Ash shakes his head. “That makes no sense, though. Eiji, I ...”

“I love you, Ash!” Eiji interrupts. “Is that not reason enough?”

“You shouldn’t,” Ash mutters.

“It’s not that you don’t want to,” Eiji says, realizing. His heart drops. After all this time? “You still don’t think you deserve me.”

“Of course I don’t!” Ash practically yells. “How could I ever, Eiji?” He drops his fork into his bowl and puts his head in his hand. “How could this be happening ... ?”

“Ash ...” Eiji whispers. “Please, Ash, I _want_ this. I want to spend my life with you.” He sets the ring box on the table and gently pulls Ash’s hand away from his face. They’ve long since established that Eiji can touch Ash without asking, except when Ash is having a panic attack.

But this isn’t a panic attack. Ash is _crying._

“I want this too,” Ash admits. And _whisper_ isn’t even the right word for it; Eiji can barely hear him, even this close. “I’ve known I wanted to be near you since the moment I saw you fly. But I can’t do this to you, Eiji, I can’t. I can’t take any more from you. Definitely not this.”

Eiji shakes his head. “You are taking _nothing_ from me, Ash. You are _giving_ me the rest of your life, just as I give you mine. There’s no taking here. I want to be with you as much as you want to be with me.”

Ash shakes his head.

“I promise you, my love. I promise.”

It’s gotten easier, in the time since Dino Golzine died, for Eiji to bring Ash down from these moments. This seems to be no exception. Ash’s tears have already started to calm.

“I can tell you a thousand times why I love you, Ash, but I wish there was more I could do to make you believe it. Can you trust me on this? I want to marry you. I want you to be my husband, if you think you might want me to be yours.”

“I ... Eiji, I ...” Ash hesitates. “There’s another reason.”

“What is it?”

Ash bites his lip for a moment before speaking. “I can’t. I don’t want to wear a suit again.”

Eiji blinks. “You ...” He breaks into a grin, laughing. “That’s not a problem, Ash! We can get married wearing whatever we want.”

Ash tilts his head, looking even younger than he is. “We ... can?”

“Of course! We can get married in our pajamas if that’s what will make you happy. Why do you think I proposed over breakfast?”

There are still tears in his eyes, but slowly, the corners of Ash’s mouth start to turn up. After a moment, he’s smiling. “Really?” he asks.

“I promise,” Eiji says again. “We can do it however we want. It’s our wedding, Ash. Just for us.”

Ash’s smile turns into a grin, and he laughs, shaking his head. “Fine,” he says. “Okay. I’ll ... marry you. I do.”

Eiji laughs now, too. He’s close to tears himself. “I think you’re supposed to save the ‘I do’ for the wedding.”

“Oh come on,” Ash whines. “I thought you said we can do this however we want, right?”

Eiji shakes his head and reaches for the ring box again. “You’re right,” he concedes. “Then ... I do, Ash. I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Um. I'm aromantic and have no idea how marriages and proposals work, so this one might be a little different. I hope you enjoyed it anyway? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! Sorry this wasn't really a standard proposal fic, but at least I had fun writing it! ❤️
> 
> Come [hang out with me](https://chaos101lynx.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr and like ... send me asks or something? I absolutely love it when you all talk to me!


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